The 2018 Tick-Borne Disease Working Group Report to Congress, the first report by the new U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Working Group, confirms what Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) and other advocates have warned of, that incidents of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are increasing and that more federal attention to the problem is needed, Smith said on Nov. 14.
“As this report clearly shows, Lyme disease is spreading, in the overall number of cases, in the geographic area of occurrences, and in the number of disease agents. We have been working for years, the Lyme Disease Caucus and other advocates, to enhance awareness of Lyme disease and push for a coordinated, comprehensive federal response, including more funding of research,” said Smith, who is the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Lyme Disease Caucus.
Smith’s congressional district in central New Jersey includes Allentown, Colts Neck, Englishtown, Farmingdale, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Howell, Jackson, Manalapan, Millstone Township and Upper Freehold Township, among many other municipalities.
According to a press release, Smith and the caucus have successfully pushed for more federal funding of Lyme research, and Smith recently authored legislation to create a new national strategy on Lyme disease.
“This report is a first step, the beginning of our response. The spread of tick-borne diseases should concern all states, not just high-incidence states,” Smith said.
“Lyme disease is having a direct, devasting impact on my constituents, and through countless meetings, advocacy and pieces of legislation, I have been working to address the needs of the Lyme disease community,” the congressman said.
The report, released on Nov. 14, is the first biennial report to Congress of the new HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, created to serve as a Federal Advisory Committee by the 21st Century Cures Act, which Smith helped shepherd through Congress in 2016, according to the press release.
The Working Group is tasked with reviewing federal research of tick-borne diseases, any advances in detection and treatment of tick-borne diseases, and identifying any research gaps, along with submitting a report to Congress every two years on its findings.
Nationally known expert and adviser Pat Smith, a Wall Township resident and president of the Ocean County-based Lyme Disease Association, is on the HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group.
The Nov. 14 report says Lyme disease has steadily increased over the last 25 years in the number of estimated cases and in the geographic areas, but as the accuracy of diagnoses is still a challenge for many physicians, the current state of treatment is insufficient, according to the press release.
New Jersey is a high-incidence state for Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases. According to 2017 data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were 3,629 confirmed cases of Lyme disease in New Jersey. The state ranks seventh overall among “high-incidence states” for Lyme and third overall in the number of reported Lyme cases for 2017, according to the Lyme Disease Association.
The Congressional Lyme Disease Caucus, which Smith co-chairs, successfully pushed for the inclusion of $5 million in Fiscal Year 2016 funding of tick-borne disease research in the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, according to the press release.
Smith also introduced legislation earlier this year, the National Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Control and Accountability Act of 2018 (HR 5900), that would call for a new national strategy on Lyme disease and help coordinate federal efforts across departments and agencies into one comprehensive federal response to tick-borne diseases, according to the press release.
